Austrian hardcore act BLOODSHED REMAINS discuss “Peace”

Four-piece Austrian heavy hardcore band BLOODSHED REMAINS have recently teamed up with German label Demons Run Amok to release a new EP called “Peace”, their first record in 6 years. These fellas’ primary goal is basically to play live for dedicated and passionate hardcore kids in every garage, skate-park or club they could possibly find. They have been doing their best at numerous live shows n Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand alongside bands like TERROR and FIRST BLOOD. The band’s new EP “Peace” was created to keep their fuel pumping and remind us about the utopian, yet still worthy quest for a peaceful society. We sat down with the band to learn more about their story, new record and plans for the future.

Produced and engineered by long-time friend Nick Jett from TERROR and mixed and mastered by Aljoscha Sieg from Pitchback Studios, “Peace” offers a fresh sound for BSR, which the band really wants to further explore oh their next album, already in the making.

Hey there guys! After 4 years since your last full length and 10 years since your first moments as a band, how does it feel to be back? Tell us a bit about this new chapter and what this new record means to you as a band.

It feels really good and refreshing to finally put out some new music! We`re all quite busy as individuals and we wrote the EP PEACE with a new guitarist which was important to evolve as a band. We`re right now playing around with new tunes and sounds. Personally I really enjoy when bands have some sort of different sounds and a breach of style from time to time. We will see what the future brings for BsR, as we`re planning the new LP in this moment. With PEACE a new Chapter as band was opened, and it`s fun again to rehearse together, play shows and hang out.

How do you remember your early days with BLOODSHED REMAINS? How have you evolved and how has your local hardcore scene changed? How would you describe the Austrian, European and worldwide hardcore music landscape today?

The early days were really early for me, I was 15 when we started BsR. Before I played in a melodic punk band— yeah 90ies kid— PENNYWISE, LAGWAGON, PULLEY, BLINK 182, PROPAGHANDI, early RISE AGAINST, BAD RELIGION etc… were/ are bands I was really into. We had a strong Punk szene in our area, which kinda totally disappeared. There are not really many bands left at the moment, but that can change quickly, now everything- especially the younger ones are a lot into Electronic music I guess. There was not a real HC scene in our area, it was built up from a very few bands. Just a couple weeks back we played a show very close to our home and 600 people turned up, I have no clue where they came from, but it was good to see so many people coming out to a more or less local HC/ Punk show!

The Austrian and European HC scene is quite mixed, as it really depends on where you are, but at the moment one can compare it to the globalization/ economy a bit, as the big global players get bigger and bigger (also the shows) and the smaller diy shows get smaller or better said less often at the moment, as bureaucracy gets more. But I think there never was, or is an real constant on which you can determine a secret of success of shows and bands. Some people work hard for it, get credits or not, some have luck- it`s pretty much as a normal live situation.

What is one thing you miss most about older days?

CIRCLE PITS!!

What have been the most memorable moments in BLOODSHED REMAINS history so far? Do you regret anything in particular?

Right now the most memorable thing is building up a fest from scratch – the REMAINS FEST where we already had two successful editions. The recording of PEACE. The tours we did overseas, South East Asia, twice Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Mhh, only thing I regret is that I didn`t wrote more of the lyrics on WWLF and Countdown, some of them are really awful, haha.

What would you name the best thing about the Austrian DIY punk and hardcore scene?

Sometimes the small things are the best, just a short story from this January. On a Monday around 4 or 5 pm, a friend of mine called me when I had a class at University, it was Nick from Terror, he was touring with Piece by Piece right then and their show on Tuesday got cancelled and they were on their way to Budapest, so Vienna was perfect on their route and asked if I can help out with a show very last minute. I never did a show before, except the 2 Remains Fests. So I left class and was calling friends. After two hours I could find a location (Venster 99), at 7pm. So I rode home and did a quick flyer. At 8:15pm I had the event, flyer and location. For only one day promotion and no support bands around 40 people turned up and it was a fun night for everyone.

How did you team up with Demons Run Amok? Do you still maintain some relationships with your previous labels?

I sent out demons and DRA was one of the labels who got back to me and working together with them is really nice and easy going from the begging on! I´m still friends with the guys from Burnside Records, they are cool people and around forever!

Ok, so digging into your new effort, what prompted you to expound on the concept of ‘peace’? Tell me more about the concept for this record.

Mainly recent stuff, and historic. Globalization is the new big thing we`re living in. We had the ancient, medieval, modern era etc… and now it`s globalization.. and somehow a lot of people don`t want to put off their mindcuffs and look to the left and right…and change or adapt “traditions” who are manmade anyway. Western societies sometimes think they are way cleverer then the rest of the world, but I doubt that. At the moment we can see in Austria that religion gets a topic again because of the refugee development which was produced over decades and people search their anchor now in religion again- just to be different to the others and find an “cultural” distinction. But Religion is in my eyes an artificially imagined method that divides big groups from each other and start crisis and only unite small parts, which is rather stupid and people should have learned from history already, we live in the 21st century not the medieval times- this modern age absolutism doesn`t work and most import doesn`t bring people to live together in peace.

I guess this could be discussed in a seminar paper… .

The concept behind the EP kinda is; that the only thing that the world ever really needs/ needed is PEACE, but that’s a thing one will never ever reach. Just in some parts always temporary. It`s like a never ending search and now with globalization, the green revolution, media, etc. everything speeds up. Population, Inequality, Stress, Sealing of Soils, exhausting the planet in a new- never before existing dimension- it`s just crazy and on the other hand reducing peace to its limits.

Do you think there could be some social or political solutions found through music nowadays?`

Mhh, I doubt that, because the people listening to a typical critical kind of music have this mindset already and as a pity some of the shows etc. are really elitist and somehow attracts only a closed society. Now I have a second thing that I really regret! We once got confirmed for a big German festival and then also this band Freiwild got confirmed, also MADBALL was supposed to play there and we are on the same booking agency as MB. Everyone can google about Freiwild if they are interested what they do and what the topic is about- I didn`t know the band till then. So MADBALL and we decided to cancel the festival, but now I regret that, because how should the audience of those bands ever get to know a different message when other bands cancel because they think that`s rebellion ?? Now I think in an abstract way Freiwild won and we backed down. Same story as the IGNITE thing right now with the Böse Onkelz festival, they should have played it, make their stand of things and encourage at least some people to might think about things differently, even if they get booed out for that.

What’s better than spreading your ideas on live shows, huh? What live shows have you guys planned for the upcoming months?

We play two now weekenders in Czech Republik, then the DEMONS RUN AMOK fest [the fest took place on March 25th], one week end in Slovenia, and one or two shows in Austria. Then a festival in June with Deez Nuts and H20. In may our drummer, my brother, gets a baby so we will slow down around that time and focus on rehearsing.

Ok, so lastly, please share some of the bands, labels, zines, books or other music and art related sources worth checking out this year. What have you been excited about recently?

My all-time favorite printed zine is FUZE, it`s free and well made- thumbs up! Other then that I don`t really read a lot of physical zines. I read interviews or something if a band releases something on their page or on their youtube channel.

★ IDIOTEQ is a DIY online magazine covering some of the hardcore punk and rock music scene, and supporting DIY ethics and local bands

★ IDIOTEQ (pronounce “idiotec”) is a phonetic transcription of the word Idioteque – the act of suddenly going into a crazy, seizure like state. A vision of a society, where people are increasingly more obsessed with pointless technology, selfishness and mindless entertainment than life itself.